Late News from <i>Crain's</i>

From the Monday, April 4 issue

Sears Holdings Chairman Edward Lampert's hedge fund paid $84.2 million to acquire Sears Holdings shares valued at $858.7 million as part of Kmart's acquisition of Sears, Roebuck, an SEC filing says. Under a March 22 agreement, Mr. Lampert's ESL Investments converted 6.48 million options to buy Kmart stock at $13 a share into the same number of options in the combined Sears Holdings, then converted those options to shares in the new Sears Holdings at $132.52 a share after the merger closed March 24. Mr. Lampert's investment group now holds a 39.4% stake, or 64.5 million shares, in the new company.

Horseshoe Casino

in Hammond took in $43 million in gross gaming revenues in February, up from $28 million in January. February's tally is the highest monthly total any local casino has reported in five years. The casino attributes the uptick to high-roller losses.

Mesirow Financial

is eyeing a site across from its River North offices for a new HQ building. The firm is in talks to acquire vacant property east of its HQ at 350 N. Clark, says CEO James Tyree. Mesirow also aims to buy property north of that site for a mixed-use project.